May 9, 2023

Dear Friends,

Quick update on advancing Christian values in the Louisiana legislature!

END OF DAY MONDAY 05/08/23

✅ HB  98 by Rep. Lance Harris - Universal School Choice. Creates state funding for qualified education expenses for K-12 and expands school choice by removing conditions relative to school performance. Passed House Appropriations 

✅ HB 462 by Rep. Edmonds - Fiscal transparency for school boards. Passed House Appropriations 

✅ HB 152 by Rep. Amedee - Adds the fundamental right of parents to decide the nurture, education, care, custody, and control of their children. Passed House Civil Law  

✅ SB 41 by Sen. Mizell - Authorizes 50% Louisiana income tax credit for donations to maternal wellness center. The total credit during a taxable year shall not exceed $5,000. Passed Senate Finance 

✅ HB 8 by Rep. Horton - Requires display of the national motto, "In God We Trust" in every public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education classroom as funds allow. (Current law requires in every building.) Passed House 98-4

✅ HB 81 by Rep. Crews - Requires public school employees use biological/given names and pronouns for students unless parents provide written consent to do otherwise. Passed House 61-33

✅ SB 169 by Sen. Mizell - Requires law enforcement to submit every reported sexual assault collection kit for an assault with a known or unknown suspect to a forensic laboratory for testing within 30 days of receipt. Passed Senate 35-0

Follow LFF’s Bills to Watch on our website. Join LFF’s 60 Second Brigade HERE.

A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that mental health-related visits to emergency rooms by children, teenagers, and young adults have risen sharply in recent years. The worst escalation was for suicide-related visits, which increased fivefold.

According to recent data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly a third of female high-school students said they considered suicide in 2021. Nearly 60 percent said they felt sad or hopeless—the highest number in a decade. Depression became more common among young people across the past decade; in 2015, the suicide rate among teenage girls hit a forty-year high.

New York Times opinion columnist David French reminds us that politics cannot fix our deepest problems, such as pervasive loneliness, the crises of suicide and drug overdoses, and our yearning to love and be loved. The WHO can end its emergency declaration for COVID-19, but as Wall Street Journal writers Betsy McKay and Brianna Abbott note, “The pandemic has shattered an illusion that humanity has control over its environment.”

May is National Adolescent Health Month (NAHM), and instead of promoting healthy habits and real healthcare, the Biden administration is pointing adolescents to one of the largest proponents of death in the U.S. 

Included in a list of items to be addressed during the month is an effort to “expand sexual and reproductive health information and services” for teenagers.

The Biden administration launched a website titled “Resources for National Adolescent Health Month™ 2023” which directs young people to ReproductiveHealthServices.gov, a website that connects people to a list of Title X “family planning” funds. That list includes local Planned Parenthood facilities.

Further, NAHM’s resource page directs teens to a website on “Contraception and Preventing Pregnancy,” which encourages the use of “Long-acting Reversible Contraceptives” (LARCs), such as Intrauterine Devices (IUDs), hormonal implants, and the contraceptive shot, without informing teens that these drugs can potentially act as abortifacients. 

The Biden administration is weaponizing its health department to advance a radical agenda under the guise of promoting good health for teens.

In Truth, there is nothing “healthy" about abortion!

Friend, while the enemy is working to promote murder of the most innocent and vulnerable among us, we know that God’s plan will prevail. 

John 15:5 - He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Have hope in Him and pray for team LFF as we work to kick unrighteousness out of our state!

In His Service,

Gene Mills
President, Louisiana Family Forum

P.S. Final Call: LFF's Leadership Academy & Spiritual Heritage tour is scheduled this June 18th-24th. This Academy is designed for high school juniors to college sophomores to explore America's spiritual heritage and our significance in God's plan.

Sponsor or nominate a young leader here!